The idea came to Jocelyn as she flew back to her ship. She didn’t even mind crediting Peter with it. Much. His stealing of the wolf pup had inspired it, after all. She gathered her crew around her and laid out the plan.

“Kidnap Peter’s mother?” Smee asked, an excited gleam in his eye. “Now we are talking, miss! I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but I believe your father would have done the same himself.”

Dirty Bob cleared his throat. “I hate to talk out of turn—”

“Then don’t, ye dirty rapscallion.” Smee fairly growled at the man, but I for one won’t hold it against him. “This doesn’t concern you! Does it, Johnny Corkscrew?” He unsheathed his sword, appealing to it. It seemed to agree.

Jocelyn placed a hand on Smee’s arm, coaxing him to lower his weapon. “Put your blade away and let Bob speak.”

Bob took his time, lighting a fresh pair of cigars before making his point. “I don’t agree with Mr. Smee here. I knew Jim Hook, we was close as brothers for years, and kidnapping little girls wasn’t something he’d have been interested in doing, not unless there was gold involved.”

“Gold is involved,” Jocelyn said.

Dirty Bob raised an eyebrow. “So we’ll ransom the lass? If that’s your big plan, I’m afraid it won’t work. I doubt that Pan boy has two coins to rub together.”

Jocelyn placed her hands behind her back and began to pace on the deck. She was determined not to let Bob’s attitude get under her skin. “You are likely right about Pan,” she said. “But we’ll be ransoming her for information, not gold. Information that may help us break the code on the treasure map.” Jocelyn still didn’t trust her men to be responsible with all the details, but she felt this explanation should be enough.

Bob took a long draw on his cigars and slowly blew out the foul-smelling smoke. “Gold or no, I can’t see Jim, or any respectable pirate, mind you, playing nursemaid to a girl—present company excluded, Cap’n. If you want gold, we can go take it. There are merchant ships out there, just ripe for the picking.”

Jocelyn stopped pacing and turned to face him. “I said no to that before and I’ve not changed my mind.”

Bob glared at the deck. “Yes, Cap’n.” He hurled the title like an insult. “Even so, I don’t think we should do it.”

“Neither do I,” Roger spoke up from behind her.

Jocelyn whirled around in surprise. “Roger! You know how important this is.”

He shrugged. “I know. But I think there may be a better way. If you were to speak to her, maybe we could get her to come with us on her own. Kidnapping doesn’t seem fair.”

“Lots of things are unfair, Roger. I can’t risk her saying no and telling Peter my plans. I want my father’s treasure. I won’t let anything stand in my way.” She gave him time to agree, but when he didn’t, she plunged on. “We will attack Peter’s camp before nightfall.”

Jocelyn sent Meriwether ahead as scout. He was not gone long, swiftly bringing news that Peter and the lost boys were showing their new mother the tiny ruins of an ancient fairy race. The ruins were scattered along the edge of a long, flat meadow surrounded with short, grassy hills—a prime place for an ambush.

Jocelyn and her crew followed Meriwether to where he had spied the enemy. She commanded they crawl the last hundred yards to the crest of a hill, in order to look down upon their target and get a lay of the land.

“Oh dear,” Mr. Smee whispered. “Looks like we’ll have to wait our turn.”

Jocelyn felt oddly left out to discover that Peter and the lost boys were about to begin a battle, but not with her. The boys, with the exception of Peter, stood in a line, attired in armor made of sap and tree bark. Their purpose seemed chiefly to defend their mother. Jocelyn pulled her spyglass from its pouch at her waist and brought it to her eye for a closer look at the girl. She looked to be a bit older than Jocelyn, with light brown hair and a merry yellow dress.

The boys made a wall of protection in front of her.

On second thought, wall might be a bit strong. Knowing Pan’s lost boys, I’d wager it was more of a picket fence.

Either way, though, Jocelyn thought the boys looked resolved to hold it. Even little Tully stood firm, his face arranged in grim determination.

Peter neither wore the armor nor stood in the line. His purpose seemed chiefly to be annoying. He flew about, crowing in excitement, his actions more closely mimicking the white wolf pup—as it ran around and around the girl’s legs, barking—than any great general.

Peter’s fairy was a blur of light, a dancing sunbeam bent on mischief. She darted here and there, tweaking the young mother’s ear, tugging at the pup’s tail, and making a general nuisance of herself. Meriwether chimed a few choice insults, something that sounded to Jocelyn like conceited pest. The girl felt much the same way about Peter Pan.

Jocelyn swung her spyglass to the opposite end of the meadow, getting her first glimpse of the enemy, and gasped at the sight. A small group of warriors had already begun their charge. Their mounts were horselike, but as with so many things on the Neverland, they were more fantastical than any Jocelyn had ever seen, even in her books. Muscles rippled beneath hides that shone as bright as burnished copper. Polished back hooves struck the hard-packed ground, sparking like flint against steel. Steam billowed from their nostrils. Fiery manes and tails streamed out behind—not fiery-colored, mind you, but made of actual flames—though they did not appear to burn the riders upon the animals’ backs.

Leading the charge was a fierce-looking girl with long black braids. Though the Neverland boasted many groups of people, Jocelyn was certain the girl could be none other than Tiger Lily. A half dozen mounted braves, armed with bows and arrows, war clubs, spears, and rawhide shields, followed her lead.

Jocelyn returned her gaze to the lost boys. She expected to see them scattering to avoid such a formidable army, but such was not the case. On their side of the meadow, the boys held both their ground and fistfuls of squirming…

Jocelyn rubbed the lens of her spyglass and looked again. That couldn’t be right.

She passed it to Roger. “What are the lost boys holding?” she asked.

“It looks like bunches of…snakes?” He shrugged and passed the spyglass back.

When the fiery horses got within range, the lost boys loaded their wriggling ammunition into slingshots and fired. The reptiles flew through the air, landing rather harmlessly—and anticlimactically—in the grass. It seemed fairly pointless, until the horses noticed the snakes. Tiger Lily’s was the first to rear, dumping the girl on her, well, her rear. The great steed turned tail and headed for the hills, inspiring its blazing brothers and sisters to follow suit.

In a blink, the battle had changed. While the warriors had appeared sure to win moments before, now the outcome was uncertain. The boys’ armor protected them some from flying arrows, and now that they were finished with the snakes, each held a knife or sword.

Jocelyn stood. “We attack now. While the boys are distracted by battle, it will be easy to slip in and kidnap their mother.”

“But Captain, are you sure?” Mr. Smee asked. “Unless we’ve arranged our alliances beforehand, we usually wait our turn. We should come back tomorrow.”

“We’re taking her now.” Jocelyn ordered Jim McCraig and One-Armed Jack to fetch the cannon from where they had left it at the bottom of the hill. They hauled it up, its wheels tangling in the long grass. Upon Jocelyn’s order, Jim fired, the cannon blast splitting the air and signaling their intent to join the battle. The girl led her men toward the fray, their own swords drawn. Jim McCraig, slower than the rest due to his “wooden leg,” rode the cannon like a wagon down the short slope, his parrot perched atop his head, both screeching in glee. One-Armed Jack followed, waving his new prosthetic—a butterfly net, well suited for capturing things—and whooping with excitement.

With the arrival of the pirates, Peter’s side was sorely outnumbered. Jocelyn found she didn’t need to slip in and capture his mother after all. As soon as he heard the cannon blast, Peter called for a retreat. And in their excitement, he and the lost boys simply left the older girl behind. Tiger Lily and her braves gave chase, leaving Jocelyn and her pirates alone with Peter’s mother. To her vast disappointment, Jocelyn was able to apprehend the girl with absolutely no trouble at all.

I pity young Jocelyn. What fun is a kidnapping with no trouble? It’s like tea with no honey! Christmas with no pudding! A tomb with no corpse! A corpse with no jewelry! Hardly worth bothering about, if you ask me.